Oil sands are underground deposits comprised primarily of sand, water and bitumen or other like hydrocarbons. Bitumen is a heavy, viscous, crude oil hydrocarbon. Oil sands deposits in the United States and Canada represent verified oil reserves resources in the hundreds of billions of barrels. Other billions of barrels of verified oil sands reserves exist around the world.
Although the location of many oil sands deposits is known, economical methods to extract the bitumen oil have been elusive. Refiners have traditionally sought more efficient and economical ways to remove bitumen from oil sands so that the bitumen may be further processed to form gasoline and diesel fuels. Prior art technology for bitumen mining involves the use of surfactant, caustic and solvent solutions. This technology has been particularly beneficial in the Athabasca region of Canada, in theory because certain of the oil sands molecules in that region are encapsulated in moisture. It is believed that the moisture makes it possible for the mining technology to separate the oil from the substrate. Oil sands ore in other locations around the world, however, have not been found to have similar moisture characteristics. Therefore, attempts to use the mining process in other regions have failed to extract the oil. Further, use of the present technology in Canada has been expensive and has resulted in environmental concerns, particularly due to the production of hazardous waste streams and greenhouse gas emissions.
Therefore, it is desired to develop a technology for removal of bitumen from oil sands that exhibits improved extraction efficiency and reduced environmental damage, and that can be utilized in sands originating in a variety of locations. Further, there is a need for an efficient and cost effective recovery technique to maximize removal of bitumen and other similar hydrocarbon oils from oil sands deposits. Also, there is a need for bitumen recovery from oil sands that utilizes simple or existing equipment. Further, there is a need for a composition that can be added to oil sands deposits to recover bitumen without resulting in excessive reaction with the oil sands components or damage to the bitumen.